How do international norms evolve? This book focuses on the most important norm in the international system-the norm of sovereignty-and argues that the extent to which norms change depends on the outcome of military intervention.

How do international norms evolve? This book focuses on the most important norm in the international system - the norm of sovereignty - and argues that the extent to which norms change depends on the outcome of military intervention.

How do international norms evolve? This book focuses on the most important norm in the international system-the norm of sovereignty-and argues that the extent to which norms change depends on the outcome of military intervention.

Large scale behavioral interventions work in some social contexts, but fail in others. The book explains this phenomenon with diverse personal and social behavioral motives, guided by research in economics, psychology, and international consulting done with UNICEF. The book offers tested tools that mobilize mass media, community groups, and autonomous "first movers" (or trendsetters) to alter harmful collective behaviors.

Social norms are rules that prescribe what people should and should not do given their social surroundings and circumstances. Norms instruct people to keep their promises, to drive on the right, or to abide by the golden rule. They are useful explanatory tools, employed to analyze phenomena as grand as international diplomacy and as mundane as the rules of the road. But our knowledge of norms is scattered across disciplines and research traditions, with no clear consensus on how the term should be used. Research on norms has focused on the content and the consequences of norms, without paying enough attention to their causes. Social Norms reaches across the disciplines of sociology, economics, game theory, and legal studies to provide a well-integrated theoretical and empirical account of how norms emerge, change, persist, or die out. Social Norms opens with a critical review of the many outstanding issues in the research on norms: When are norms simply devices to ease cooperation, and when do they carry intrinsic moral weight? Do norms evolve gradually over time or spring up spontaneously as circumstances change? The volume then turns to case studies on the birth and death of norms in a variety of contexts, from protest movements, to marriage, to mushroom collecting. The authors detail the concrete social processes, such as repeated interactions, social learning, threats and sanctions, that produce, sustain, and enforce norms. One case study explains how it can become normative for citizens to participate in political protests in times of social upheaval. Another case study examines how the norm of objectivity in American journalism emerged: Did it arise by consensus as the professional creed of the press corps, or was it imposed upon journalists by their employers? A third case study examines the emergence of the norm of national self-determination: has it diffused as an element of global culture, or was it imposed by the actions of powerful states? The book concludes with an examination of what we know of norm emergence, highlighting areas of agreement and points of contradiction between the disciplines. Norms may be useful in explaining other phenomena in society, but until we have a coherent theory of their origins we have not truly explained norms themselves. Social Norms moves us closer to a true understanding of this ubiquitous feature of social life.

The aspirations of individuals, organizations, and states, and their perceptions of problems and possible solutions circulate fast in this instantaneous society. Yet, the deliberation of the underlying public norms seems to escape the attention of the public. Institutions enable people to have reliable expectations of one another even when they are unsure of each other's aspirations and purposes. Public norms enable people to act under conditions of increasing uncertainty. To fulfill this role in society, institutions need enhancement, maintenance, and innovation. Public Norms and Aspirations aims to improve the methodology of planning research and practice by exploring the co-evolution of institutional innovation and the philosophy of pragmatism in processes of action. As most attention in planning research and planning practices goes to the pragmatic approaches of aspirations and problem solving, the field is awaiting an upgrade of institutional perspectives. This book aims to explore the interaction of institutional and pragmatic thought and to suggest how these two approaches might be integrated and applied in successful planning research. Searching this combination at the interface of sociology, planning, and law, Salet opens a unique niche in the existing planning literature.